Have no fear

I know I have said things in my column and in my comments and posts that infuriate some people. I may not always say the "right thing", or when I do, say it as eloquently as I hear it in my head, but I have always tried to be true to myself. I have tried to talk about the injustices I see around me, even if it makes me unpopular. I have not been afraid to speak about difficult topics like racism and homophobia and how broken our justice system is.

I've been threatened, personally attacked, and had some pretty terrible things posted about me online. But this kind of negativity honestly doesn't bother me. Some of the threats on the nazi websites were a little disconcerting, but I am a strong believer in free speech - even when that speech is nasty and directed at me. The only way anything ever changes is when people speak up. We must always support the right of everyone to speak their mind and do our best not to stifle the freedom of thought.

The Internet makes people brave because they can hide behind a fake name. It's easy to be hateful when no one knows who you are. It's easy to complain when no one knows who you are. But the people who hide behind a pseudonym aren't brave at all; they're cowards. The people who wrote letters to the editor about how much they hated my columns? Those people are brave. They signed their letters. They put themselves out there. I respect them, even though I think pretty much everything they said was completely wrong.

Because while I might not agree with those people and they might not agree with me - we all have something in common - we aren't afraid to use our real name.